Anuenue
by Nora May French
Summary: Rainy day thoughts. Song-inspired.


**Disclaimer**: I do not own the characters mentioned in this work of fiction, they belong to CBS and affiliates.

**A/N**: I've wanted to write a story based on Bruddah Iz's (Israel Kaʻanoʻi Kamakawiwoʻole) version of "Over the Rainbow", for quite a while now. So, when it came on Pandora, I went with it and simply wrote.

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><p>Anuenue<p>

His eyes were drawn, almost of themselves, to the dark, gray clouds on the horizon. They spread out from the green-topped mountains, like ominous cotton balls and seemed to be headed, quite rapidly, in his direction. He sucked in a deep breath and shook his head.

"Looks like it's gonna be another shitty day," he muttered to himself as he got into his car and put the key in the ignition, waiting for a few seconds before turning it on and revving the engine.

It had been raining off and on for the past week and a half and he felt rather like the Biblical Noah, minus the copious amounts of animals. It was just rain, and not even a cool rain, but one which was hot and heavy and left humidity, hanging like a blanket, in its wake.

Kamekona had mentioned something about a lack of trade winds from the Big Island making the normally ideal eighty-three degree weather warmer than usual, or something like that. He hadn't been paying much attention to the proprietor of shave ice at the time. His mind had been elsewhere – Rachel hadn't called him in a couple of days, he was missing Grace's voice.

Rent was coming due soon and, with recent pay cuts to government workers, he was having a hard time making ends meet. Just a month ago, it hadn't been a problem. He'd been able to pay all of his bills (on time); his rent, buy groceries and even had a little left over to splurge. Now, though, it was a struggle. Of course, if they hadn't been double-whammied – a five percent pay cut, plus higher premiums to pay on healthcare – he might've been better able to manage the reduction in pay.

He wondered how the others were managing their own money woes and was even more grateful that his parents had encouraged him to set up a trust fund for Grace. Of course, he wouldn't be able to contribute anything to it for the foreseeable future, but it was still something that he had set aside for her. It wasn't much, but it was something.

He turned on the radio and inwardly groaned as the voices of some local DJs practically blasted out his eardrums. He reached for the dial, intent upon turning the station and giving Steven a piece of his mind when he saw him at the office, but something stilled his hand. The voices cut off and the cheerful sound of a ukulele being strummed came over the airwaves. He hadn't really listened to any Hawaiian music, had convinced himself that he didn't like it and no one had ever disabused him of this notion.

As the first raindrops fell, pelting his windshield, the strumming was accompanied by a soft, almost airy voice. He was surprised to find that it was a song he knew, though in a vastly different setting. Images of ruby-red slippers, a green, hook-nosed witch and a little dark-haired, pigtailed girl clutching a small dog to her chest who just wanted to go home to her Aunty Em came to mind.

It was soothing; the rhythm of the music matched that of his windshield wipers and new images, borne of Hawaiian style barbecues with his colleagues (so much like family now), the sun setting like a golden apricot on the blue expanse of ocean, and a little dark-haired, brown-eyed girl running with arms stretched out wide to capture her 'Danno' in a flying hug.

As the song drew to a close with a velvety string of peaceful oohs and ahs, there was a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth, even though the rain continued to fall, sluicing his car and flooding the streets far more rapidly than he thought should be possible.

"Maybe it won't be that shitty after all," he murmured.

As the 'Iolani Palace came into view, there was a break in the clouds and, nestled within the gloomy grey was just the touch of a rainbow. The vibrant violet, green, blue, red, orange and yellow bands tinted the clouds a pearlescent pinkish color that reminded him of Grace and the promise of home.

As he pulled into his parking spot, he turned off the engine and sat for a moment, his eyes transfixed on the small portion of rainbow he could see. He watched it fade, along with the single ray of sun that had somehow, against all odds, managed to breach the brooding clouds for a single moment in time before taking in a deep, fortifying breath and stepping out into the rain, running to the building.

Taking the stairs two at a time, he pulled open the door upon reaching the top and entered the building a little less than sopping wet. He hadn't yet bothered to purchase an umbrella, though everyday it rained, the thought crossed his mind that he should.

As he shook some of the water from his hair, his phone rang and the smile which had been threatening to surface finally did.

"Hey Monkey," he greeted his daughter, pausing to listen before nodding and laughing. God, he'd really missed her voice.

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><p>Reviews would be greatly appreciated. Mahalo<p> 


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